First week at the CCM (MTC)

Hey Family!

It's so good to hear from all of you, but your emails made me cry. Knowing that I'd be able to see your emails today helped me get through the week. I have to type fast, and because I'm learning Spanish, my English is getting horrible, so please forgive all the errors. My P-day is on Wednesday, at least this week it is, but we get to write on Tuesday. The Guatemalans are crazy and never stick with the schedule.

So the reason why they stopped me at the airport was because they thought I had a large liquid in my bag, but I think it was just my face wipes. The pills were ok. There were soooooo many missionaries when I got to the gate and more came at L.A.X. There were probably at least 30 missionaries. I met a lot of new people that way.

At L.A.X., a Guatemalan man sat next to me and I started talking to him in my broken Spanish. He and his family thought I was crazy/hilarious, but as I was talking to him, it was like I could see him and all his family dressed in white at the temple one day. I asked Hermana McGill if I could have her Spanish Book of Mormon and she said yes. So I gave it to him and then she joined in on the conversation. He sat in front of me, and at the end of the airplane ride, he had the Book of Mormon in his hand. I think he was reading it on the flight too, but I was so exhausted from packing all night that I passed out on the plane.

So when we arrived in Guatemala, there were 2 buses: one for all the suitcases and one for us. We arrived at the CCM (MTC in Spanish) and the people that have been here for a while helped us out. I went to my room, got some breakfast, then slept for about 2 hours. It's like prison here — they take your cameras and iPods until you leave because I guess there has been a lot of theft here. 

The first day was the longest day of my life. It didn't help that it also ended up being horrible. My companion is Hermana Lisonbee and I am struggling with her. I am learning to love her everyday more and more, but it is really difficult. It is definitely a one way companionship and getting her to contribute is like pulling teeth.

I love you Ali, and sorry if this sounds bad, but Hermana Lisonbee is a lot like you, except times that awkwardness by like 5! She walks way more slowly than you and takes forever to do anything. So Heavenly Father definitely gave her to me in order to teach me patience. I'm working on getting along with her everyday by trying to forget myself and get to work and serve her, so hopefully by the end of 6 weeks things will be better. If anyone has advice on how to deal with a difficult companion, it would definitely be appreciated.

I love my district so much they are really fun. We get to work together with an investigator named Candy who works at the cafeteria. (By the way, the food here is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo goood!!! It's also really rich and they give you big portions.) Anyways, at first we didn't think she was real investigator, but then we found out she really is an investigator. We are supposed to be teaching Candy in Spanish, but it always ends up in English. Thankfully she grew up in Las Vegas and is very fluent in English. She loves what we are teaching her and thinks it makes a lot of sense. In fact, due to all of our efforts, she is being baptized this month on the 29th!

One night when we were deciding on what to teach Candy the next day, my companion suggested we teach her about prayer. But as we studied the topic, I wasn't feeling it and let my companion know. Others thought we should talk about something else as well, so I picked another subject and we decided to teach her about the creation, the fall, and agency. It was good that we did because it led to her asking, "do children go to limbo when they die because of Adam and Eve?" Being able to tell her that children actually go straight to heaven was the greatest thing ever. She has two little twin boys and I let her know how much Jesus loves them. The only problem with teaching her was that I wasn't on the same page as my companion. I will have to keep working on building our unity. Sorry I'm venting so much, it just feels good to get my venting out.

There are 8 girls total in my room: 4 Latinas and 4 white girls, including me. Talking to the Latinas is so fun because they are so patient and we all laugh at my Spanish together it's great. The 2 white girls are helpful, give me lots of advice, and are really fun to talk to. The district leader is Elder Baadsgaard and he is from Benjamin near Spanish Fork. His father's your age as well dad and went to Spanish Fork High, so do you know a Baadsgaard dad?

By the way Spanish keyboards are weird!!!! And I haven't been taking my Singular as much, but my allergies aren't as bad down here. Probably because the humidity is helping my skin a lot.

Being at the CCM is an emotional roller coaster. One minute you are happy, the next minute you are frustrated or feel all emotions possible all at the same time. The Lord's work is definitely hard work, but it is so worth it. I am so blessed to be able to bring the happiness of the gospel to the people of Guatemala. Pray for me to have patience and love, and also that my stomach will feel better because Sunday night I spent the whole night pooping. I wanted to die and now it has come back today too. I am pretty sure my body is trying to poop out my internal organs.

Sorry, my thoughts are super scattered. I love my teachers here, especially Hermano Valdez. He is a sweetheart and teaches with the spirit and is so patient with us and is hilarious. I'm struggling with the language and wish Ali was here to bounce Spanish off with me, but I'm getting better everyday. I pretty much memorized the first vision in Spanish and also learned how to say basic prayers.

Sunday here was great and it was fast Sunday this week. I was glad because my fast has been helping me do better. We watched a ton of church movies, and watching the first vision kind of made me homesick a little bit. We also watched part of Errand of Angels, which gave me ideas to help me get along better with Hermana Lisonbee. 

For Sunday school, we all have to prepare a lesson, and you randomly get called on to teach. It's the same way for sacrament usually, but today was fast and testimony meeting. The testimony meeting was cool, and even though I didn't understand a lot of what people were saying, the spirit was still so strong. The Latinos are hilarious and don't understand that they should let people pass the tray through the row. Latinos probably walk the tray through the row because Latino men are tiny and can walk through the row, but the gringo men are so big that they can't haha. After the church meeting was over, I really missed being able to take a nap. 

I get an hour to write you each week, so I am going to end this soon so that I can reply to people individually. Can you send me the emails from Nate and Emily if there are any to this email so I can write them sometime? Also I can't look at your blog since its not an approved site, but that is awesome. Thanks for all your support. I love you guys tons! You are in my thoughts often.

Lots of love,

Hermana Lindsie

P.S. Give Mira and Simon a hug from me. I miss my babies.

- - -

From Lindsie to Alison: 

You were right Alison, I suck at Spanish, but I am getting there slowly but surely. Writing in English is getting harder and harder and Spanish is getting easier and easier. Umm humidity sucks, especially to work out in. Imagine being in the garage in mid-July with 100% humidity and that is what it feels like to be working out here in Guatemala.

I only have 5 more minutes left, so I will use it up on you. I just want to let you know how much I love you and thank you for your support. Things here are pretty good. I am happy most of the time, but it is an emotional roller coaster. I hope the fam is doing ok. Thinking about you guys makes me cry, but I am so happy to be here.